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Review
by Kozo: |
Hey,
Eason Chan can act! One of Hong Kong's more prolific - and
even box-office friendly - recent actors, Chan possesses range
which could recommend him for a variety of roles. Unfortunately,
Chan's range also includes a hideous library of funny faces
and eyebrow-raising antics, none of which are subtle. They
can also be annoying and downright displeasing. Small doses
would be nice.
The full gamut of Eason Chan's
histrionics is on display in If U Care..., a bizarre
comedy with some very down-to-earth sentiments. Chan plays
Gino Cheung, a selfish trickster who works for a design firm
where he routinely steals ideas and spars with his co-workers
(including Candy Lo). Gino is an overbearingly bad guy. Not
only does he torture beggars and little kids, but he'll also
steal life support from an injured patient to power his laptop.
To be blunt, Gino Cheung sucks.
Ah, but a comeuppance is in
order. Gino gets into a traffic accident which injures his
right hand. He's saved by his childhood love, Gillian (played
by Twins member Gillian Chung), who's now a fireman. Being
a fireman was actually Gino's childhood wish, but somewhere
along the way he became the scum of the earth. Seeing Gillian
brings some humanity back to him, which is understandable
as Gillian is one of those amazingly wonderful girls who can
only exist in the movies. Writer/director Adrian Kwan gets
the best mileage out of the scenes between Chan and Chung,
as they're remarkably sweet and endearing moments. Those moments
make you wish for Gino to change, if only because Gillian
genuinely would like him to. Otherwise, the guy can rot. Yes,
he's that reprehensible.
However, just finding Gillian isn't
enough to make Gino a good guy. No, the accident also imbues
him with a special power: he can now experience people's feelings
when he touches them with his injured right hand. This leads
him to do the occasional good, but the overriding desire seems
to be to use his right hand for corporate chicanery. It's
a good time too, since he's embroiled in the machinations
of his co-workers and even rival designer Jennifer (Rain Li).
For a while it looks like Gino will use his powers for evil
rather than good. But, this is a movie intended for popular
entertainment. Gino's going to turn around eventually. The
question is whether or not his journey is a good one.
Adrian Kwan has adopted some
familiar themes (positive reinforcement, caring for others,
and general selflessneess) and kneaded them into a truly bizarre
and overdone storyline and even more annoying direction. Gino's
emotional empathy is usually accompanied by screwy music and
fast-motion mugging by Chan. Many of the characters behave
in distractingly obnoxious ways, with Rain Li winning the
award for most annoying acting of the year. Even the usually
welcome Candy Lo is uncharacteristically uninteresting. And
the multiple subplots and annoyingly obvious platitudes weigh
the film down. If Kwan had pared down the excess of the film,
the likely result would have been a better motion picture.
As it is, he crams too much questionable content into a well-meaning
premise. The lesson: sometimes less is more.
On the other hand, the film
seems to improve by 800% whenever Gillian Chung and Eason
Chan are onscreen together. Not that the scenes are really
that good, but at least they channel some welcome emotion
into the proceedings. Chung is the only actor in the film
who doesn't overact, and while her performance shouldn't be
considered good (sweet and cute does not an actress make),
she's suitably adorable and winning. Chan plays well off of
her, and actually appears likable and even human during those
moments.
Whenever Chung isn't around,
however, Chan cuts loose like a madman. But, his ability to
convincingly switch from annoying heel to likable lout is
one that should earn him better roles. The guy really can
play many types, which is a welcome ability not seen in many
popstar/actors. The main problem with If U Care...
is not Chan's serial overacting, but the all-over-the-place
story and script which takes nearly 110 minutes to reach a
merciful end. The schizophrenic tone, hyperactive direction
and annoying supporting characters seal the deal. If U
Care... is pretty much a waste of time, but even worse,
it's a waste of potential. (Kozo 2002) |
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